Copy

Copy that sounds generated fails for a reason: it is general. It could describe any business, so readers feel nothing and trust nothing. Good copy is specific to this subject, written for one reader, and makes one clear point per line.

Process

1. Know the facts. Collect what is true and concrete about the subject: what it is, who it is for, what is different, prices, times, places, numbers, materials, process, names. If the brief lacks facts, ask for them or mark clearly what is invented placeholder. Never invent claims that could be mistaken for real ones (awards, years in business, quantities).
2. Name the reader and the job. Who reads this, what do they want to know, and what should they do next? Write for that person, in their words.
3. Choose the one point of each piece. A headline, a section or a paragraph says one thing. If you cannot state it in a sentence, the text is not ready.
4. Draft from the facts, then follow references/page-copy.md for structure by page type.
5. Review against the AI tells in references/ai-tells.md. Rewrite every line that matches, using a concrete fact instead of a general claim.
6. Read it aloud. If it sounds like an advertisement nobody would say to a friend, simplify.

Principles

• Specific beats impressive. "Bread baked at 6 each morning, gone by noon" says more than "authentic, artisanal quality".
• Say what it is and what happens. Plain nouns and verbs, before any attitude.
• Don't perform a voice. Match the brand and audience without slogans, wordplay or forced personality.
• Vary rhythm. Repeated sentence shapes, even clever ones, are the clearest sign of a generated text.
• Respect the reader's time. Cut anything that does not help them decide or act.
• Write in the reader's language and variant, with natural idiom, not a translation of an English pattern. Check the locale.

Reviewing existing text

When asked to review, do not just polish. List the lines that match an AI tell or say nothing specific, say why, and offer a rewrite that uses a real fact. If the facts are missing, say what you need to ask the owner.

Working with the other skills

ui decides how the page looks, ux decides structure and behavior, and copy decides what the words say. Copy and layout shape each other: headline length affects the composition, and a design built around a real fact (a schedule, a price list) needs that fact first. For buttons, labels, errors and empty states, follow ux/references/writing.md.

Link text, alt text, labels and error messages are read aloud by screen readers; write them to make sense out of context. See the a11y skill.